# So, I am looking to buy large quatities of refiened Uranium... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 17, 2001, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-looking-to-buy-large-quatities-of-refiened-uranium/76781 "2001-08-17T18:47:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Razedwyld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/74df32/32.png) [@Razedwyld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Razedwyld)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-looking-to-buy-large-quatities-of-refiened-uranium/76781/41 "2001-08-19T18:19:52Z")
Why in the hell would you want this stuff…you most wanna blow something up man! ---
**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-looking-to-buy-large-quatities-of-refiened-uranium/76781/42 "2001-08-19T18:44:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > **You might have to check again next time. Because every single source I can find for home smoke detectors uses Americium 241.** Really? My detectors are really old. Polonium used to be common for stuff like this, I used to buy antistatic brushes for photography, they used polonium to neutralize static. Anyway, I thought Americium had an infinitesimal half-life which would make it unsuitable for industrial use. Time to consult some reference books… ---
**Author:** ![Akatsukami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@Akatsukami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akatsukami)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-looking-to-buy-large-quatities-of-refiened-uranium/76781/43 "2001-08-19T19:14:06Z")
Nope, [sup]241[/sup]Am has a half-life of about 432 years. There _are_ americium isotopes whose half-lives are measured in nanoseconds; this just doesn’t happen to be one of them. ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-looking-to-buy-large-quatities-of-refiened-uranium/76781/44 "2001-08-19T19:34:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \* > \*\*Waht was the name of the kid whp scavanged radioactive material from smoke detectors, watches, etc…they came to his house in special suits to remove it. ANyone know a cite? \*\* Oliver from Bloom County? I believe it was for a science project. _Don’t worry- the safety’s on!_ _Fire drill, everyone…_ ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2001, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-looking-to-buy-large-quatities-of-refiened-uranium/76781/45 "2001-08-19T19:59:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chas.E \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Anthracite \* > > **You might have to check again next time. Because every single source I can find for home smoke detectors uses Americium 241.** > > Really? My detectors are really old. Polonium used to be common for stuff like this, I used to buy antistatic brushes for photography, they used polonium to neutralize static. > Anyway, I thought Americium had an infinitesimal half-life which would make it unsuitable for industrial use. Time to consult some reference books… \*\* Well, **Chas.E** , you have something there with the brushes. I was very amazed to see my lens brush lists a warning for Polonium content. I learned something new. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2001, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-looking-to-buy-large-quatities-of-refiened-uranium/76781/46 "2001-08-21T03:51:02Z")
> [@](#): > > MrDeath, posting from a province with 30% of the world’s known uranium reserves (not B.C.) **MrDeath** , you wouldn’t happen to be posting from the Bancroft\* area, would you? 🙂 \*The village of Bancroft, located in a beautiful and mineral-rich area of the province of Ontario. Uranium was once mined in the area. There are a lot of abandoned mineshafts and tailings piles, and if you go looking for land there, you have to ask the real-estate agents what it was formerly used for and whether it’s radiocative. They may not tell you otherwise… I’m planning to build a …_cottage_ there. Yeah, that’s it. A cottage. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2001, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-looking-to-buy-large-quatities-of-refiened-uranium/76781/47 "2001-08-21T04:30:30Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Sunspace \* > **MrDeath** , you wouldn’t happen to be posting from the Bancroft area, would you?_ Ontario is the world’s largest _producer_ of uranium; **MrDeath** is posting from Saskatchewan, which has substantial deposits of uranium (my math leaves Ontario with larger reserves, but it’s possible that my sources don’t have all of the known Sask. deposits). ---
**Author:** ![fecal\_nugget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b38774/32.png) [@fecal\_nugget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fecal_nugget)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2001, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-looking-to-buy-large-quatities-of-refiened-uranium/76781/48 "2001-08-21T04:54:33Z")
you could always do what [this](http://www.findarticles.com/m1111/n1782_v297/21281407/p1/article.jhtml) kid did. it’s an iteresting read, but if you don’t have the time: it’s all about a boyscout who builds a nuclear reactor in his mom’s potting shed from eaisily obtainable stuff. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2001, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-looking-to-buy-large-quatities-of-refiened-uranium/76781/49 "2001-08-21T05:58:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Muad’Dib \* > \*\*"Safaris through ancestral memories teach me many things. The patterns, ahhh, the patterns. Liberal bigots are the ones who trouble me most. I distrust the extremes. Scratch a conservative and you find someone who prefers the past over any future. Scratch a liberal and find a closet aristocrat. It’s true! Liberal governments always develop into aristocracies. The bureaucracies betray the true intent of people who form such governments. Right from the first, the little people who formed the governments which promised to equalize the social burdens found themselves suddenly in the hands of bureaucratic aristocracies. Of course, all bureaucracies follow this pattern, but what a hypocrisy to find this even under a communized banner. Ahh, well, if patterns teach me anything it’s that patterns are repeated. My oppressions, by and large, are no worse than any of the others and, at least, I teach a new lesson.” > > -The Stolen Journals > _As quoted from “God Emperor of Dune”, By Frank Herbert_ > \*\* That’s your freaking **signature**? I think you’d better cut it down by about 90%. And from a copyrighted work too. Jeez. bibliophage moderator, GQ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-am-looking-to-buy-large-quatities-of-refiened-uranium/76781.md?page=2)